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Middle East Issues

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 March 2019

Tuesday, 5 March 2019

Ceisteanna (129, 130, 131)

Niall Collins

Ceist:

129. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the detention of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons; if he has raised this issue with the authorities in Israel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10812/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Niall Collins

Ceist:

130. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the issue of Palestinian children detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court system has been raised at EU level including the Foreign Affairs Council; if the EU has taken action in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10813/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Niall Collins

Ceist:

131. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has taken action in relation to Palestinian children detained in Israeli prisons; his views on whether the human rights of Palestinian children are being violated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10814/19]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 to 131, inclusive, together.

The human rights situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory is a matter of deep concern. The manner and practices around the detention and trial of Palestinian children in Israeli prisons and the Israeli military court system continue to be unacceptable. It is my view that Palestinians who are detained, especially children, should have the same protections and conditions that Israel affords its own citizens who are subject to detention.

Ireland has recommended that Israel urgently end the admissibility of evidence in military courts of written confessions in Hebrew signed by Palestinian children, the use of solitary confinement and the denial of access to family members or to legal representation.

As a contracting party, Israel is bound by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). I am not satisfied that Israel is meeting its obligations under Articles 37 and 40 of the CRC and Articles 9 and 14 of the ICCPR. For example, Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.”

During my visits to Israel and Palestine, I have personally raised Ireland’s concerns about the detention of minors directly with the Israeli authorities, including on the practices of night-time arrests and blindfolding. I have strongly urged the Israeli authorities to use detention only as a last resort, and for the shortest possible period of time, in the case of minors, as stipulated in the UN Convention.

More generally, I am seriously concerned by the Israeli military court system which is used in relation to Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including children. Palestinians do not enjoy the same legal protections as Israeli settlers in the same area. These military courts have a near-one hundred percent conviction rate, a statistic which raises serious questions about the system’s compliance with international standards of due process.

Ireland has repeatedly drawn attention to concerns regarding the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, and in particular, over recent years to issues related to the detention of minors. In the most recent UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review of Israel in 2018, Ireland drew attention to concerns in this regard. Ireland also raised the issue of administrative detention and recommended that Israel ensure full respect for international human rights obligations, in particular those specified in article 9 of the ICCPR, towards all prisoners.

Ireland has also raised these issues at EU level. In February 2019, the Foreign Affairs Council adopted Conclusions on EU Priorities in UN human rights fora, which reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to the full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Protocols worldwide.

Ireland also provides financial support to Israeli and Palestinian NGOs who are active in bringing the issues related to the detention of minors to light, and combatting abuses.

My Department and I will continue to press on these issues in the relevant multilateral fora, and also, where appropriate, directly with Israel, both with the Israeli Embassy here and through our own Embassy in Tel Aviv.

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